"I Felt Invisible": Exploring Power in Doctoral Students' Scholarly Identity Development Through Collaborative Autoethnography

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: Advising, Mentoring, and Building Relationships in Graduate Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to illuminate the experiences and perspectives of doctoral students in order to critique systems of power in higher education, especially as they relate to faculty-student relationships. Using collaborative autoethnography, we found our scholarly identities were highly influenced by power-laden relationships. Power held by our supervisors-who served as brokers of power- directly impacted our access to power via instrumental and emotional supports. Further, the ways in which our supervisors responded to our claims to competence consequently shaped our trajectories and attempts to claim knowledgeability as scholars. We discuss these results in relation to our theoretical framework and offer suggestions for future research and practice.

Authors

• Megan E Brunner, Oregon State University

• Haley Traini, Oregon State University

• Yoon Ha Choi, Florida International University